Bank charges - miniumum fee rip off and other questions

oz_claimer

Hi there,

I began a claim with Banksmart back in Feb 2007 - the two claims of which are all packaged and ready to go to the FOS for processing once the court procedings are over.

I recently completed a claim on my credit card however. To my astonishment this morning i recieved a letter from bank smart asking for 100 pounds plus VAT as a minium charge. The claim took little effort and was for the total amount of 90 pounds.

My question - the minimum costs seem unreasonably high and i would therefore dispute them. On what grounds can i do this - i cannot see the justification in these charges and am going to request a cost break down - am i able to do this?

I am also requesting they send me the original signed documents - can terms that are over two years old still be applied and at what point do they expire?

I am now considering cancelling all claims via bank smart - i would be happy to pay reasonable expenses - but do banksmart have to provide evidence to me of the work they have performed to date?

I am now living in Australia so if this went to court i could not attend and am worried this may affect my credit rating if i have problems paying.

Any help or advice appreciated.

I note a user went to court over this recently and would be interested to hear the outcomes and the case against the defendee.

dunstonh

the minimum costs seem unreasonably high and i would therefore dispute them. On what grounds can i do this

None that I can think of.

i cannot see the justification in these charges

And why should they have to justify them? They are not penalty charges but service charges.

am going to request a cost break down - am i able to do this?

They dont have to give you a break down.

I am also requesting they send me the original signed documents

There is no requirement for them to store originals. Electronic copies (PDFs for example) are fine.

can terms that are over two years old still be applied and at what point do they expire?

Depends on your contract you agreed. However, they wont expire after two years. With FOS complaints taking typically upto 2 years I very much doubt they will have something in there allowing you to get off with paying them because of the length of time it takes to resolve.

but do banksmart have to provide evidence to me of the work they have performed to date?

Not in the way you want it.

I am now considering cancelling all claims via bank smart

Most claims companies have something in the contract that still allows them to be paid if you cancel them and end up being paid out. This is to prevent them being used for doing the work and not being paid for it.

I am now living in Australia so if this went to court i could not attend and am worried this may affect my credit rating if i have problems paying.

Claims companies do normally pursue people via courts to get their money. Although with you in Australia, that would be interesting to see. I guess it depends on how big your claim is as to how likely they will pursue you for the money.

Any help or advice appreciated.

As much as I dislike many claims companies tactics and the fact that often they charge massive amounts for what is often just a simple template letter that takes 2 minutes to churn out, they dont have to justify things in the way you want to get out of paying. They can turn round and say its their knowledge and experience you are buying and that their charges were fully published before you chose to use their services.

Check the contract you agreed and see what it says about cancellation.

ILW

Some people seem to think they do not need to pay anybody for anything.

natweststaffmember

I totally agree with Dunstonh. Unfortunately, when you ask another company to do a claim you can do, you have to accept the fact that for the price of a book of stamps and £10 you have foregone your win. So in effect you are £10 down +VAT.

oz_claimer

while i accept some of your comments i still think the charge structure they have is confusing and some parts ambiguous.

Also i do not think charging a minimum fee of 100 pounds and then only claiming 90 pounds from the FOS makes business sense. Why would i knowingly claim 90 pounds and then give 100 pounds to banksmart?

Also the claim structure is very misleading. For now i have asked that they clarify this with me. Back in 2007 i requested the same clarification but will wait to hear back and see what they say.

i think it very misleading how they say they will claim x (including costs, commission etc) and not to mention that the banks may not even pay for the extra costs.

Question: do we have many examples of banks paying extra charges levied by third party companys on top of the account holders charges?

Thanks for the advice by the way, excellent forum.

GMan83

Hi,

Ive just read your post and am having a similar experince as you although I have recently received a letter to from BAnk smart to say that their current commission and chargers stand at £1289. I have absolutely no idea how they have managed to arrive at this number....
They have been pursuing my claim for over two years and its largely something I've forgotten about. However, they continue to say me letters and ask me if I want to pursue a hardship claim as the FOS are still accepting these.
I am really concerned about this and do not know what to do....My claim for bank charges is on £700 so already I apparently owe bank smart nearly £600 above this...
Anyone else in same boat...what have you done???what should I do???needless to say I do not have £1200 pounds to pay them...I'm worried they will end up taking me to court now and that this number will get biiger and bigger...
anyone in a similar boat please get in touch as I need to sort this out and if we could get a few people together we may have more clout...
PLEASE HELP!!

esmerellda

TERMS - http://www.bank-smart.co.uk/images/TermsAndConditions_X4.jpg

Clause 2.11 is their minimum fee (£100+VAT) payable also if you have no penalty charges on your account...so basically any account you ask bank smart to sort out for you whether it has charges on or not is £100. So because the card ended up having only £90 charges on, yep you are still stuck with the £100 charge.


I would get the paperwork from the on your case - sounds like they went through the FOS and accepted the first offer. Do you actually know how much value of charges you had on that account ? Did they ask the c/card company for 8% interest on top ?

I'd do a Data ProtectionAct, subject access request on them.

akadawny

Ok, first of all if you cancel any of your claims they will charge you £150 to cancel EACH CLAIM. This is in addition to the minimum fee off £99 + VAT.

Their terms and conditions state they can change the terms and conditions at any time, without having to notify you, and that by signing them you are agreeing to check their website regularly for changes to them.

I agree with you, the minimum fee is outrageous, especially as they promote the fact they will retrieve theri fees from any settlement you recieve, and dont tell you what will happen if the claim is unsuccessful, well until you recieve the shock invoice that is!!

Can they even chase you if you live in Australia? Cant see them sending the baliffs round to be honest lol! You can request a breakdown of fees and a copy of the contract you signed (I did and recieved them by email) but again, £12 to send you a letter (and I didnt recieve any of them!!) and they charge for just adding comments to your file!!

I have had to pay as they were going to add outrageous charges if I didnt, and despite emailing the financial ombudsman, ministry of justice, and consumer services noone could help me. I finally went to CAB who said it was my word against theirs and I would have to prove my case, which without original documents (which I never recieved!!) I had no case. My issue was the terms and conditions were misleading, but I couldnt prove which version I had signed.

Common_Sense_2

Is this in the running for "oldest thread dragged up" prize?

Robert79_2

Hello , I have the same problem with the Bank Smart I got a letter from them given notice to me with one of my four claim is unsuccessful and I must to pay them 118.80 pounds so I think I begin another scam, this time on me. I have 14 days to pay please for help because I do not know what to do

Milliman

to all those that want to speak to BS company straight this is the current number on the telephone 01872540752